


crash against the coast (lighthouse guide me there)

by Innocentfighter



Category: Alex Rider (TV 2020), Alex Rider - Anthony Horowitz
Genre: Best Friends, Confessions, Drabble, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Not Beta Read, Platonic Relationships, Post-Canon, Pre-Slash, Sharing a Bed, Trans Male Character, can be read either way
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:33:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28137750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Innocentfighter/pseuds/Innocentfighter
Summary: Tom has some lingering questions after the dance. Alex has some lingering anxieties. They'll figure it out together.
Relationships: Tom Harris/Alex Rider
Comments: 1
Kudos: 43





	crash against the coast (lighthouse guide me there)

**Author's Note:**

> *blows dust off of account*   
> Hello I finished the TV series and its been years since I read the books but I had this idea I had to get this idea out of my head.

Tom glances behind him where Alex is lounging on the bed, he is scrolling through his phone with a line of tenseness in his shoulders. He can hear the ‘oh no’ sound play softly, but instead of Alex’s tiny huff of amusement his lips stay pressed together.

“Al?”

“Yeah? You okay?” Alex glances up.

He waves his broken arm and then twists it behind his back, “I can’t get my binder off.”

Alex swings his legs over the side of the bed, “then how’d you get it on?”

“With talent,” Tom grins.

That earns him an eye roll and it makes him happier than it should. Since _everything_ that happened Alex has been withdrawn and skittish so any sign of the former Alex makes him happier than it has any right to.

He keeps his back turned as he feels Alex start to pull up on the elastic. Tom bends forward as the binder goes over his head.

“That all?”

“Yeah, thanks,” Tom says, “I’ll be right back, I need to brush my teeth.”

“Sure.”

Tom hurries into the bathroom and finishes pulling off the binder and gently folding it. He sets it on the toilet before finishing his nightly routine. The clock on the wall reads that it’s just past eleven and they have school tomorrow.

“Everything alright?” Alex calls.

“Yeah,” Tom turns on the water and wets his brush.

That’s the other thing, he muses as he brushes his teeth, Alex is always checking up on him now. The first few days it made sense; they still didn’t know if there would be any repercussions from whoever the hell Alex got mixed up in. Now it was as annoying and endearing.

_If anything happened to you, you know I’d never forgive myself._

Not to mention confusing. That night at the dance – before the evil clone reveal – had been exactly the type of scenario that haunted his best dreams. Alex taking him somewhere to talk privately, having a heartfelt conversation, before a kiss or confession. Tom had thought he had gotten over that at fourteen.

He finishes up, swiping the towel down his face. Tom nods at himself in the mirror. Not that he tries to think too hard about that night but there was still one question that he never did get answered.

Alex has put his phone away in favor of reading one of the assigned class readings that he missed. Tom tosses the binder on top of his school bag before climbing into the bed with Alex. They have only a few centimeters of space between them.

“Alright, then?” Alex tilts his head.

“As can be,” Tom replies.

The book gets set on the nightstand next to his phone.

“Al?”

“Yeah?”

Tom swallows, “I hate to bring it up again…”

“Bring what up again?”

“That night, you know,” Tom says vaguely.

“What about it?” Alex tenses up again, looking around towards the window.

Tom rests his hand over Alex’s and stroking this thumb across his knuckles, “hey, there’s no one out there. You checked like four times already.”

“What did you want to know?” Alex says instead.

He rolls onto his back looking up at the ceiling, trying to think about the best way to phrase his question without spooking Alex into silence.

“Tom?” Alex asks again.

“That night when you ran into the library,” Tom begins.

He turns over to see Alex’s jaw jump with how tightly he has it clenched. Tom rolls back over onto his side to look the blond in the eyes.

“The evil-clone asked you something… and you never gave him an answer.”

“I didn’t think I had to?” Alex tilts his head, “he was trying to goad me into a fight.”

Tom rolls his eyes, “yes, but… I think I’d like an answer.”

“Okay?” Alex says with a shaky breath.

“He asked you if I meant that much to you?” Tom purses his lips, a pit in his stomach already making him regret asking the question.

“I told you he wanted to throw me off balance or make me have the first move.”

“But you didn’t answer it,” Tom says, “and I know we’re best friends so it would make sense. Except now I just… you never kept secrets from me before.”

“I had to,” Alex says, “secret government agency and all that.”

“I know… but you did it so easily…and then you didn’t answer the question.”

“It isn’t like in the movies, Tom. I didn’t have time to monologue about it.”

Tom lets out a long sigh, “I suppose you’re right. It was just bugging me – forget I said anything.”

“No!” Alex says, before he clears his throat, “it isn’t like that.”

“I know, it's like you said. Didn’t have time to monologue,” Tom sits up. He is just being silly.

“Wait, Tom,” Alex leans up, reaching his hand forward before pulling it back to his chest, “the clone had it right, going after you. It had my memories, and he went after the important people.”

Tom shrugs, “we’re best friends.”

“We are,” Alex crosses his legs, putting his hand in the gap looking away, “do you really want an answer about how much you mean to me?”

Tom looks behind him. That’s why he started this entire conversation – he couldn’t control his fourteen-year-old self and now he knows he is going to get hurt again. Just like how it felt when the evil-clone said they were best friends and his heart dropped to his stomach after breaking.

Really, he thought he was over this.

“You’re like a lighthouse to me.”

He snorts, “a lighthouse? Couldn’t I be something cooler?”

Alex shakes his head, “lighthouses signal the shore with their light – so I know I’m near home when I’m with you. Even on my worst day.”

Tom opens his mouth just as Alex scrubs a hand down his face.

Alex reaches out to squeeze Tom’s shoulder, “and you’re bright like the lighthouse is too. Always around for a laugh… and yeah. You mean a lot to me.”

He clears his throat, not sure what to do with that admission. His stomach flutters and he holds it with his good hand trying to calm himself.

“My turn,” Alex says.

“Your turn?” Tom frowns.

“I have a question about that night too,” Alex looks away, a tiny blush high on his cheekbones.

“Oh. Sure,” Tom clears his throat and turns so he is facing Alex.

“You didn’t notice before when the clone first approached you, but how did you know at the end?”

“How did I know the difference between you and the clone?”

Alex nods.

“Oh well. I didn’t notice it until you two were together, but I know how you look at me,” Tom clears his throat, his cheeks heating up as well, “and yeah.”

He rubs the back of his head, “that’s how.”

“Oh,” Alex looks away.

“You’re important to me too,” Tom adds, “I mean – of course, you should know that.”

Alex had been the first one he told after all and was part of the reason he wasn’t afraid to start going by his chosen name.

Tom clears his throat, “you know. You’ve always been protecting me ever since we were young.”

“That was a long time ago,” Alex says.

“Yeah.”

They stare at each other, both of their cheeks bright red. Tom looks away first, not wanting to deal with what he thought was a long-buried crush. It isn’t the time for that either. They’re barely a month away from Point Blanc and the fallout.

Alex reaches out his hand, “we should probably go to bed. School is tomorrow and all that.”

“Right. Shame you save the world and still have to sit in advanced maths.”

He deserves the pillow that is tossed to his head. Alex drops down onto the bed and pulls the blanket over him. It makes him laugh as Alex buries himself underneath the duvet. Tom joins him, settling on the pillow that was tossed at his head.

“Night Al.”

“Good night, Tom.”

**Author's Note:**

> As always, leave your thoughts and comments below!


End file.
